December 17, 2025

Markets:

Stock futures rose Wednesday after the S&P 500 posted a third losing session, as investors weighed newly released U.S. economic data.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released early Tuesday its November job report, which also included data from October. The findings pulled back the curtain on the U.S.' economic health following a federal data backup caused by the U.S. government shutdown this fall.  

The report showed the U.S. economy shed 105,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% — its highest level since September 2021. However, 64,000 jobs were added in November, topping the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 45,000.  

On the economic front, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed President John Williams are slated to speak on Wednesday morning.

Traders are also looking ahead to Thursday’s release of the consumer price index reading for November.

MU reports after the close today.

Portfolio:

We head into today’s session holding SERV, PL, and ONDS. We’re now looking for these names to begin the moves we’ve been mapping out.

From a technical standpoint, the market has spent the last 13 sessions consolidating between 6800 and 6900. Yesterday we briefly pushed below the lower boundary at 6800, but buyers stepped in and held the line. As we move toward year-end, maintaining strength above 6830 is key — that opens the door for a push back to 6900, and ultimately a breakout toward 7000.

The market has shown remarkable resilience all year, with meaningful dips consistently getting bought. As long as that behavior continues, the path toward 7000+ remains intact.

The primary risk to this outlook would be a decisive break below 6750 accompanied by heavy selling. In that scenario, we would expect a move toward 6700 before the market stabilizes and resumes higher. We’re monitoring this closely, but based on the significant accumulation we’ve seen beneath the surface over the past several sessions, our bias remains that a larger upside move is building.

As mentioned yesterday, several high-quality setups are forming, with strong names approaching their 100-day and 200-day moving averages. These opportunities don’t show up often. If this consolidation resolves higher, it could set up a powerful finish to 2025 and create an excellent launchpad for early 2026. Patience here is key.